In this edition of Weekly Focus Europe: Kelkoo Group Sees 29% YOY Increase in Traffic over Black Friday; Kering Takes E-commerce In-House in Online Luxury Battle; Bloom & Wild Powers Same-Day Delivery Across London with 'On the dot'; and Costa Coffee & Barclaycard Launch UK's First Contactless Reusable Coffee Cup. 

Kelkoo Group Sees 29% YOY Increase in Traffic over Black Friday

Kelkoo Group, the leading pan-European e-commerce advertising and shopping comparison service (CSS), has seen a 29% year-on-year increase in traffic over the Black Friday weekend.

Kelkoo’s data also shows that the number of online shoppers increased by 34% over Black Friday, compared to the previous weekend, from 36.2 million shoppers searching for products through Kelkoo last weekend to 48.4 million consumers on Black Friday.

Richard Stables, CEO of Kelkoo, said: “Online retailers continue to meet consumer demand for convenience and an enhanced user experience to attract and retain customers, whilst traditional retailers lurch from one financial struggle to another. It’s been a challenging year on the high street, but clearly the growth opportunity is online. With an increase in shopping from mobile devices, and more consumers looking to score bargains on the go, it is no surprise that the e-commerce industry is going from strength to strength.”

Kering Takes E-commerce In-House in Online Luxury Battle

Kering said on Monday (26 November) it would develop its own online shopping sites by 2020, ending an outsourcing joint-venture for brands like Balenciaga and showing how major luxury companies are speeding up e-commerce plans, according to Channel News Asia. 

After a slow start shifting sales onto the web, wary that it would dilute their brands' image, high-end fashion and jewellery labels are piling resources into this channel and building up their own tech teams.

Kering said it would end a joint venture dating back to 2013 with Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP), depriving the online retailer, which also helps third-party brands develop their sites, of one of its big name clients.

Kering brands will still sell clothing and other items through platforms like Net-A-Porter.

But YNAP, which Richemont took control of earlier this year, had set up and managed e-commerce operations for seven Kering brands, including Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta, with the notable exception of Gucci which the French luxury group set up itself.

Kering's decision to move more online activities in-house shows how industry players with financial muscle are deciding to build their own digital operations, giving them full access to sensitive – and strategically useful – information such as client data.

Kering's larger rival LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton, last year launched its own multi-brand website known as '24 Sevres' and has developed websites for its labels in-house.

Cartier-owner Richemont, meanwhile, took control of YNAP earlier this year to boost its online presence, though the deal called into question whether rival brands would want to keep up their YNAP partnerships.

For now, YNAP will still manage online stores for over 20 clients, from Italy's independent Armani to puffer jacket maker Moncler, in a business that made up 10% of its €2.1bn  (£1.86bn) revenues in 2017.

"We believe that an increasing number of luxury brands may also end their flagship partnerships with YNAP", analysts at Berenberg said in a note.

Brands are still exploring partnerships with third parties in specific areas or regions. Kering also said on Monday it was working with Apple Inc. on applications for use by sales assistants to scan inventory.

Rivals like France's Chanel and Britain's Burberry have partnered with Farfetch on similar services.

Some Kering brands also work with JD.com and Alibaba in China.

Kering's online sales made up 6% of its €6.4bn (£5.67bn) turnover in the first half of 2018, and grew by 80% in the third quarter, faster than revenue growth in department stores or its own shops.

Bloom & Wild Powers Same-Day Delivery Across London with 'On the dot'

On the dot, the last-mile retail delivery startup, today (29 November) announces that the UK’s second-fastest growing business, Bloom & Wild, has selected them as their partner for their same-day delivery service proposition across London.

VC-backed mobile and online florist, Bloom & Wild, which employs a growing team from their HQ in Vauxhall, London and operates across the UK, Ireland, Germany, and France, aims to make ordering design-led flowers online as simple as sending a text message. When launched in 2013, co-founders Aron Gelbard and Ben Stanway set out to use technology to make it the UK's most loved flower brand.

However, Bloom & Wild faced the challenge of rocketing consumer demand for immediacy and control over delivery. To ensure it innovates at every stage of the customer journey and provides its customers with the ultimate in delivery convenience for any occasion, while retaining quality of service, Bloom & Wild had to find a same-day delivery partner. The perfect partner would understand the brand-to-doorstep concept, would be able to provide additional support at peak times such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or Mother’s Day but, more importantly, would have the technology to provide that cutting-edge customer experience that Bloom & Wild needed.

With longer term plans to launch its same-day delivery service across other UK and European cities, Bloom & Wild also needed to find a partner with scale and a large network. After going out to tender and comparing five vendors, Bloom & Wild selected On the dot. On the dot stood out for its couriers’ expertise and professionalism, national coverage, scalability, and technology.

The roll-out of the service only took three weeks to complete. On the dot’s technology also integrated directly into Bloom & Wild’s website for a seamless customer experience.

Today, the UK's top-rated flower company manages thousands of deliveries per day and offers customers the ability to select a two-hour delivery window of their choice that day, between 9am and 6pm, London-wide, five days per week.

Costa Coffee & Barclaycard Launch UK's First Contactless Reusable Coffee Cup

Costa Coffee has partnered with Barclaycard to launch the UK’s first reusable contactless coffee cup.

Available in Costa Coffee stores this month, the Clever Cup harnesses contactless payment technology to turn customers’ reusable coffee cups into a fast and convenient way to pay.

Powered by bPay by Barclaycard technology, Clever Cup users can track their spending, top up their balance, and take control to block or cancel the contactless payment element online or using the dedicated bPay app, available on iPhone and Android devices.

The Clever Cups form part of Costa Coffee’s wider relaunch of its ‘next generation’ reusable range, encouraging customers to use reusable cups instead of single-use takeaway cups. This follows Costa Coffee’s announcement in April to pledge to recycle 500 million takeaway cups by 2020.

Sold in packaging made from recycled coffee cups, the Clever Cup features a silicon base and contactless chip, which is detachable for ease of washing. The technology within the cup can be used wherever customers see the contactless symbol and not just Costa Coffee stores.

Jason Cotta, managing director at Costa Coffee comments: “Contactless technology has become increasingly prominent in our daily lives; and through the launch of the new Costa/Barclaycard Clever Cup, we hope to appeal to those tech-savvy customers to help facilitate and drive environmentally friendly behaviour.

“Whilst we are committed to ensuring more takeaway coffee cups are recovered and recycled, we also want to incentivise and reward customers who help reduce the number of takeaway cups being wasted. We already offer a 25p discount on hot drinks in all our stores for customers using reusable cups, and hope the innovative Clever Cup will become an additional incentive for increasing the use of reusable cups."

Rob Morgan, head of sales & partnerships, at Barclays said: “Today's shoppers are looking for seamless and 'to hand' ways to pay. Our wearable chip technology allows almost any accessory to be transformed into a smart payment device, unlocking the benefits of speed and ease in everyday purchases. We're proud to be working with Costa Coffee to give the UK another compelling reason to carry a reusable cup as part of their daily routine."

The new Clever Cup is priced at £14.99, with a £1 donation from every sale going to The Costa Foundation and will be available from all Costa Coffee outlets across the UK from late November.